Tenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Questions related to human relationship to heritage have always been raised; whatever the nature of this heritage, it undeniably has a value at a given moment, which implies reflection on its protection and transmission. In this sphere, religious heritage occupies an important place, since a large proportion of cultural property classified and considered as heritage is of a religious nature, this can be explained by the very development of the notion of heritage as we know it today, a notion that has its roots in the religious concept - essentially Christian - of the cult of sacred objects, this veneration being one of the foundations of the notion of heritage. The specificity of religious heritage lies in the fact that, in addition to the value of age and use, religious objects have values linked to the beliefs of the faithful and to a sacredness that arouses veneration; this specificity implies taking into account the values linked to this type of heritage in any intervention. It is through a particular intervention on religious heritage, which is the conversion of places of worship, that I through this article contribute to the understanding of the relationship between society and its religious heritage, by analyzing the conduct and reception of conversion operations, and this by taking as a case study the current annexes of the Saint Philippine Church in Annaba, ex-orphanage church. It presents an architectural heritage that responds to a codification linking it to the colonial cultural area.